Dan Halutz
Dan Halutz | |
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Rav Aluf (Chief of Staff ; highest rank) | |
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Dan Halutz (
Biography
Halutz was born in
Halutz holds a degree in economics from Tel Aviv University, and a Harvard Business School degree.[4] He is chairman of the Etgarim special-needs charity.[4]Military career
This section of a poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Dan Halutz" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2012) |
Halutz joined the
After the war, he left the IDF in order to study, but returned to active duty when the Yom Kippur War started, in 1973. During the war, Halutz flew over 43 operational flights, shooting down three enemy planes in dogfights.
In 1978, he left the IDF again and served as a reserve pilot for four years. He returned to active service in 1982, when he was also trained to pilot the new
In 1993, he was promoted to brigadier general and appointed as head of air group. In 1995, he was appointed as the head of air force headquarters.
In 1998, he was promoted to major general and in 1999, he was appointed as the head of the Operations Wing in the IDF General Staff.
In 2000, Halutz was appointed commander of the
He led the IAF during the
In 2004, he was appointed deputy chief of staff.
On February 23, 2005, Israeli defence minister
On June 1, 2005, Halutz was officially appointed the eighteenth chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and was awarded the rank of Rav-
On January 17, 2007, Halutz resigned from office, following a critical report from former chief of staff Dan Shomron. Halutz stated that he made the decision "based on deep-rooted values, those of strong ethics, loyalty to the organization and integrity."
"I served the army responsibly for over four decades, and this responsibility continued in the last few months. It is this responsibility that led me to announce my resignation."
Al-Aqsa Intifada
Targeted killing policy
Halutz also tightened the cooperation of the IAF with the IDF ground forces and the
The targeted killings policy has become identified to a large degree with Halutz himself. Brig. Gen (res.) Iftach Spector, past commander of the Ramat David Airbase and the Tel Nof Airbase, accused Halutz of encouraging a culture within the IDF of compromising one's principles, citing among other things the targeted killings policy.[5]
On the night of July 23, 2002, an IAF warplane dropped a one-ton bomb on a
Human-rights organizations[who?] have criticized the attack, proclaiming that the intentional dropping of a one-ton bomb in the middle of the night on a dense civilian neighborhood is tantamount to a war crime. The Gush Shalom movement also threatened to turn the pilot over to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Halutz, who was abroad during the bombing itself but was still accountable as IAF commander, gave an interview to Haaretz, published on August 21, 2002. To his pilots he said:
[To pilots] Guys ... you can sleep well at night. I also sleep well, by the way. You aren't the ones who choose the targets, and you were not the ones who chose the target in this particular case. You are not responsible for the contents of the target. Your execution was perfect. Superb. And I repeat again: There is no problem here that concerns you. You did exactly what you were instructed to do. You did not deviate from that by so much as a millimeter to the right or to the left. And anyone who has a problem with that is invited to see me.
When asked whether the operation is morally wrong because of the toll on some civilians, Halutz answered that the planning included moral consideration and that a mistake or an accident does not make it such.
When the reporter asked him about the feelings of a pilot and what he feels when he drops a bomb, Halutz answered:
No. That is not a legitimate question and it is not asked. But if you nevertheless want to know what I feel when I release a bomb, I will tell you: I feel a light bump to the plane as a result of the bomb's release. A second later it's gone, and that's all. That is what I feel.
In the same interview Halutz denounced the left-wing groups who attacked the pilots and called to have them tried for "treason":[8]
Is this the public for which the Israel Defense Forces is fighting day in and day out? All those bleeding hearts who have the gall to use Mafioso methods of blackmail against fighters – I don't recall that they ever threatened to turn over one of the arch-terrorists, the terrorists who have killed many Israeli civilians, to The Hague. What I have to say about those people is that this is a democracy, where everyone can always express his opinion. But not to be a traitor.
Interviewer: Are you suggesting that members of the Gush Shalom ("Peace Bloc") group who made those comments should be placed on trial for treason?
We have to find the right clause in the law and place them on trial in Israel. Yes. You wanted to talk to me about morality, and I say that a state that does not protect itself is acting immorally. A state that does not back up its fighters will not survive. Happily, the State of Israel does back up its fighters. This vocal but negligible minority brings to mind dark times in the history of the Jewish people, when a minority among us went and informed on another part of the nation. That must not happen again. Who would have believed that pilots of the air force would find their cars spray-painted with savage graffiti because of a mission they carried out?
Halutz's harsh expression caused a public controversy, with anti-Occupation groups demanding his resignation but right-wingers and centrists backing him.
Following Halutz's appointment to deputy chief of staff, a group of prominent left-wing activists, together with the Yesh Gvul refusal group, filed a petition with the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice (BAGATZ) in order to prevent the appointment. The petitioners attached a cut and somewhat edited version of the interview.[9][failed verification]
The judges ordered Halutz to write an essay, clarifying his stand in the issue. Halutz complied and submitted an essay saying:
The fact that uninvolved civilians and innocent children were killed, saddens me. I regret that.... [The Air Force policy] is to employ the minimal force required to accomplish the mission.... If someone of those who took part in that operation would know this would be the tragic result – it would be canceled [or postponed]. A proof for this, is that the operation was already postponed number of times, because information we had about probable innocents around the terrorist Salah Shehade.... I (give great value) to the issue of responsibility distribution between the commander and his subordinates, between the pilots and those who sent to the mission, and therefore I told (them) to sleep well at nights.
In 2005, the Supreme Court accepted Halutz's reply and rejected the petition.
Following
Lebanon Conflict
Orders to bomb buildings in Beirut
Talking about Hezbollah rocket fire on Israeli civilians, Halutz said on July 23, 2006:
"There will always be some terrorist to fire a missile. But I believe we'll be able to push them north and reduce the accuracy of their fire. The other side must reach the conclusion that the price it pays for continuing the [rocket] fire is intolerable."[10]
On July 24, 2006, it was reported that IDF Radio had broadcast details of orders issued by Halutz:
"Army chief of staff Dan Halutz has given the order to the air force to destroy 10 multi-storey buildings in the Haret Hreik ("Dahiya") district (of Beirut) in response to every rocket fired on Haifa," a senior air force officer told army radio on Monday [July 24].[11][12][13]
The report was condemned on July 24 by the Israeli group
Investment portfolio scandal
On August 15, 2006, it was revealed that Halutz sold off his
On August 17, Halutz rejected resigning over the affair, adding that the motives behind its publication are "wicked and tendentious. I do not know who is behind this. I do not intend to be dragged to such levels, questioning my integrity." Halutz admitted selling about $28,000 worth of his stocks within three hours of Hezbollah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers—the action that sparked the conflict. In a news conference in Tel Aviv, Halutz said the stock sale was unrelated to the outbreak of war and criticized the disclosure of his personal financial information.[17] On August 30, a Bank Leumi probe announced that the source of the leak did not come from its bank.[18]
2023 Israel-Hamas war
On 27 December 2023, during the third month of the
We lost the war, because it will not have the image of victory! Because the image will be the loss of 1,300 dead, 240 abducted, only a portion of whom have returned, and the destruction and displacement of 200,000 [Israeli] refugees in their country. The image of victory for me would be the removal of the prime minister [Netanyahu]. Only that will be an image of victory, unadulterated.[19]
See also
References
- ^ "Islamic and Jewish News – Toronto Page". Archived from the original on January 19, 2007. Retrieved January 19, 2007.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ We Were Caught Unprepared: The 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War, Matt M. Matthews
- ^ Sam Hopkins (February 28, 2007). "Cultural Crossover on a Sword's Edge". Wealth Daily. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- ^ a b Jenni Frazer (January 13, 2011). "Interview: Dan Halutz". The Jewish Chronicle Online. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- ^ Pfeffer, Anshel (February 5, 2010). "Pilot who refused to bomb Palestinian targets gets 'golden wings'". Haaretz. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
- ^ "Mike Hanna: 'Utter devastation' in Gaza City". CNN. July 23, 2002. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
- ^ Justin Huggler; Mary Dejevsky (July 25, 2002). "Israeli Attack Ruins Deal to End Suicide Bombings". The Independent. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- ^ Vered Levy-Barzilai (August 21, 2002). "The high and the mighty". Haaretz. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- ^ יש דברים שאנשים הגונים לא עושים [There are things decent people don't do] (in Hebrew). Yesh Gvul. November 18, 2011. Archived from the original on February 3, 2006. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
- ^ Amos Harel; Eli Ashkenazi (July 23, 2006). "IAF strikes religious building in southern Lebanon, 4 wounded". Haaretz. Associated Press. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- ^ More aid pledged to Lebanon as UN calls Hezbollah cowards, Ya Libnan, July 24, 2006 Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "'10 buildings for each rocket'". Aljazeera/Agence France-Presse. July 24, 2006. Archived from the original on October 28, 2006.
- ^ "Israel to Bomb 10 Residential Blocks for Each Rocket Attack Against Haifa". Focus News Agency. July 24, 2006. Archived from the original on May 3, 2015.
- Ynetnews. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- ACRI, July 24, 2006.
- ^ ""State Comptroller: the Chief of Staff needs to be prohibited from actions to his investment portfolio"" (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2006.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link), Haaretz, August 16, 2006 - ^ "Lebanese troops deploy as part of U.N. cease-fire". CNN. August 17, 2006. Archived from the original on September 17, 2008.
- ^ Ram Dagan (August 30, 2006). בנק לאומי: מקור ההדלפה על חלוץ - לא מהבנק [Bank Leumi: source of leak on Halutz – not from the bank]. Haaretz (in Hebrew).
- ^ "'Israel Lost War...': Stunning Claims of Defeat Against Hamas by Ex-IDF Chief | Details". December 26, 2023.
External links
- "Curriculum Vitae – Deputy Chief of the General Staff". Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2005.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link), IDF official website - "Interview with Halutz in 2002". Archived from the original on April 29, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2005.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link), Haaretz (August 21, 2002): this interview outraged Israeli left wing groups. - Amos Harel (February 23, 2005). "Mofaz announced Halutz as the next Chief of Staff, the left slams the appointed while the right and center welcome it". Haaretz.
- "Dan Halutz is officially appointed as Chief of Staff" (Press release). Israeli Defence Forces. June 1, 2005. Archived from the originalon February 4, 2012.
- [1] Report of a further controversial comment by Halutz] regarding the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
- "Dan Halutz". Ynetnews. July 31, 2006.
- Hanan Greenberg (January 17, 2007). "IDF Chief Halutz resigns". Ynetnews.